AcaSpot News

I ran across this article today entitled “How To: A 12 Step Program for an Effective Rehearsal, by Ben Bram of The SoCal Vocals” from ACB (acappellablog.com).

The article is prefaced by saying that you first need a strong leader, however, I think that many of the tips in the article help you to get there. Most collegiate groups have such a high turnaround of members and leaders, and it’s hard to jump in an lead your peers. Often times it takes a semester just to get in the groove of things. Anything that can shorten that lead time is valuable information.

If you’re a music director (or, more importantly, aspiring to be one), don’t miss these insights.

[How To: A 12 Step Program for an Effective Rehearsal, by Ben Bram of The SoCal Vocals]

Tickets for SoJam 2008 are on sale now at www.sojam.net.  If your group is submitting an application to compete, you have to buy weekend passes beforehand to be eligible.  Student Weekend Passes are $49 ($55 for the general public).  If you’re not hoping to compete, you can buy tickets for the individual weekend events, which include a Collegiate Competition on Friday evening, workshops during the day on Saturday, and a Professional Showcase on Saturday evening.

This year’s SoJam will again be in Raleigh, NC on November 7-9.   You can get more details at www.sojam.net.  

Sorry for the long hiatus.  We’ve moved back to the good ‘ole USA since April.  I know, I know - no excuses.  But it is the reason for the silence.

Meanwhile, Mr. A Cappella himself (Deke Sharon) wrote an article just in time for those directors and managers out there who are getting ready for the fall semester.  If you’re striving for excellence, not just a repeat of last year, you need to read this article over at CASA.

[CASA: Five Tips for College A Cappella Groups by Deke Sharon]

Each semester, you intend to do a better job at promoting your auditions or your concerts.  You try to plan ahead, get the word out, and get people excited about your group.  But usually the time flies by so fast that all of a sudden it’s 3 weeks until the concert and you haven’t even posted it on your website.

 A RARB forum subscriber asks how to promote and motivate his group to do the same.  It is a must read.  Even if you already know you should, it’s motivating to hear tried-and-true methods that have worked for other successful groups.  These are definite musts for groups who wish to continue forward and not remain stagnant (or move backwards)!

[RARB Discussion: Promoting shows, concerts, and auditions]

I’ve been reading some old forum discussions for a post I’ll be writing in the next few days.  I came across one lively feed from 2003 and thought it was an interesting read.

 In short, what is the Music Director’s role within the group?  Some groups responded with the Music Director/President as the be-all-end-all.  Some have 2 or 3 officers with equal authority, while still others split up the music responsibilities between the Music Director, arrangers, and section leaders in addition to a million other officer roles.  The thread also evolves into a discussion of how rehearsals are run.  It’s interesting to see that there are so many ways of doing it, and no single solution is always the best.

I’m sure a lot of this depends on the size of the group.  And I certainly advocate re-evaluating every once in a while, because as the group members change, so does the talent pool (when it comes to leadership, teaching, and administrative skills) within the group. 

Any thoughts?

[Music Director’s Role?]